“I” am conscious awareness and reside in the left prefrontal cortex. I
can actively choose to move or be still, to be aware or I can allow automatic
habitual behaviors to direct my words and actions.

These automatic behaviors are still mine, “I” created them—sometimes
with help from family, friends and associates. This type of action can be
static and rarely or never change, reflecting a fixed mindset. But they can
also be dynamic, updating each time new information becomes available,
reflecting a growth mindset. The cumulative effect is the personality I have
created for “Myself”, the story I tell about who “I am”.

Finally there is an instinctive component to “Me” that is often overlooked
because when “Me” takes over “I” am typically not available, “I” have receded
into the background where consciousness is hard to maintain. This instinctive
self can be observed during flights of passion;

I just wasn’t myself: “for some reason, my behavior
did not sync up with the internal story/image that I have for Myself”.                                                                                                                   

I don’t know what happened: “I wasn’t paying attention and my actions do not
reflect my conscious awareness”.

I just couldn’t control myself: “Instinctual behavior
overwhelmed my ability to behave in a way that matched the self-image I
identify with”.

 These types of comments often are heard when the primal “Me” takes over,
conscious awareness is sublimated and behavior is hijacked. There are other
times that this aspect can be observed in a more subtle form, during times of
hunger, anger, illness and fatigue.

How these divergent systems come together to give us a seamless
impression of totality is impressive and typically occurs unconsciously. People
in general, do not tend to notice sub and unconscious processes unless something
goes wrong. In today’s society we call this breakdown mental illness.

But a break does not have to be a break down, it can also result in a
break through when I, conscious awareness, recognize and take command of the
situation.  Awareness, mindfulness and
focus are all qualities of attention that are useful in aiding in the unification
of these three levels of consciousness.

The first step is to notice, to become aware, and Mindfulness practice
is an effective tool. Designed not to still the mind, but to help us become
aware of what is happening at any given moment. The long view is to reprogram
or update the heuristic system of thinking that we all develop as children. But
first we have to be able to notice the errors so that we can effectively
reframe without disrupting the old beliefs.

So what is heuristic thinking? As children, we develop a system of
thinking based on our experiences. It isn’t taught to us, it develops as a
result of observing situations and creating an opinion, a cause and effect
outcome based on our perception of what was observed. Therefore, our intuition
remains limited by the errors in judgment we possessed as children. A large
part of our personality is developed as a result of these early experiences.

How this affects us in today’s fast paced, action oriented society is
that our attention is consumed much faster than we might like, resulting in
feeling of being exhausted and overwhelmed. We become dependent on “Me”
thinking just to keep up the pace resulting in decisions that are easily
manipulated. That’s a big part of why salespeople want us to make decisions
right now, based on the hype and excitement that they expose you to, rather
than taking your time to reach a decision that is right for you.

So if the ability to make good decisions is dependent on rational “I”
thinking how are we supposed to sift through all of the information and the
“Me” tactics that are employed against us? For starters turn off the television
and step away from the other passive mental activities that are addictive and
steal precious attention, be selective.

There are only two non-miraculous
ways for learners to come into existence: they must either evolve or be
designed and built by learners that evolved. Before there can be learning there
must be learners. ~ Daniel Dennett

Attention is a limited resource that can be refined and controlled or it
can be ruthlessly drug through the day by attention seeking stimuli. The result
is unconscious processes such as respirations, heart rate, digestion, healing,
hormonal function and all those other things that happen within our body being
thrown out of balance. This in turn throws conscious awareness into chaotic and
dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors.

In America we are bombarded with information from all directions.
Learning to actively filter energy draining habits leaves room for active
learning about things that really matter. GIGO a term that means “garbage in,
garbage out” can completely undermine intuition because good decision making
skill is based on accurate information. By fine tuning intuition, knowing our
emotional triggers, controlling our focus and fact checking before accepting
what resonates with “Me” thinking, we can enhance our overall enjoyment of life.